ICDL GCC Foundation, the governing body and certification authority of the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) program in the Gulf region, has announced its 2006 results on the implementation of computer skills and digital literacy in the region. The results pointed out that the general level of digital literacy in the region has witnessed a sharp increase. This has been achieved due to the commitments of the governments in the region to promote civic skills needed in modern society. The results also highlighted that the categories of Women and individuals with special needs have seen a climb in the enrolment in the ICDL’s digital literacy program.
With regional governments increasingly emphasising on government reform and job training programs, the public sector was the largest group that joined the ICDL digital literacy program with over 81,283 government employees, 31.2% of the overall participation. This included employees from civil service ministries, defence ministries and semi-government organizations.
“We have been working closely with the concerned authorities in the various countries in the region to widen the reach of digital literacy to all sections of society. It is encouraging to see that there is such recognition from the governments in the region of the importance of IT skills to modernize its society and services to the public. However, more needs to be done to establish a digitally literate population able to take advantage of the new services and technologies being introduced.”
The second largest group that participated in the ICDL program during 2006 was students from various levels of education with 76,422 enrolments, or 29.33% of the overall participation. With governments investing more in education and introducing more reforms to the education system, a large number of schools and universities have integrated the ICDL syllabus in their curriculum and made the ICDL certification a requirement for either enrolment or graduation.
“Research has proven that education has a direct impact on economic and cultural advancement of societies. Nowadays, public digital literacy has become the new growth-driver for countries due to the increasing use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the various sectors. Educational institutions are considered the base founders of societies and the success of digital literacy programs in this field is proof that the region is heading towards the establishment of a digital knowledge-based society. These educational reforms wouldn’t have been achieved without the wise directives and support that the regional governments have extended to our program,” added Ezzo.
The ICDL 2006 results also showed a rise in the number of women participating in the ICDL program with 12,817 women, a rate of 4.92% of the overall participation. Those women are housewives and/or unemployed by choice. Another group that was mentioned in the ICDL 2006 results was the individuals with special needs. This was attributed to the introduction by the ICDL program of special disability guidelines for operating a training and testing centre and Braille version of the ICDL syllabus which is aimed at offering the ICDL training and testing to visually-impaired individuals.
“The region is witnessing an emerging trend of rising digital awareness among different sectors of the society, particularly among women and individuals with special needs. We are committed to focus our effort on promoting digital literacy and awareness to bridge the digital divide between the region and the advanced countries. During 2007, we will take our efforts to another level through increasing our awareness campaigns and tightening our partnership with the concerned authorities in the region in order to realise our ultimate goal of a fully e-literate society,” conclude Ezzo.
About ICDL
International Computer Driving License (ICDL), is an internationally recognized computer proficiency standard that is owned by the European Computer Driving License Foundation (ECDL) and introduced by the UNESCO's Cairo Office (UCO) for Arab states in 2001, is gaining increasing acceptance in the Middle East, with several governments adopting and prescribing it to their employees. The ICDL program exists in over 140 countries, and is offered in 36 languages, including Arabic. The programs offered are all based on one standard syllabus and question set. There are more than 26,000 centers worldwide, above 5 million candidates, more than 1 million issued certificates and over 20 million exams have been taken globally since the launch of the program year 1997.
About ICDL GCC Foundation
ICDL GCC Foundation was created by the ECDL Foundation, the not-for-profit global governing body of the ECDL and ICDL member countries dedicated to helping raise the general level of computer skills in societies and providing access for all to the information society, to serve the to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States with their implementation of ICDL and for providing them with localized support to ensure quality of ICDL programs. The ICDL GCC Foundation is the sole accreditation body that is responsible to support ICDL accredited training and testing centers in the GCC. It also acts as the reviewing and approving body for the local adaptation of ICDL programs.
